Decision details

Purpose of Significant Decision:

Department for Transport has awarded Slough Borough Council additional bus grant funding for 2025/ 26 to improve bus services and infrastructure.

This Significant Decision seeks approval to;

a) authorise officers to submit the documents listed below to the Department for Transport by the deadline of 31 March 2025:
• Slough Borough Council’s delivery plan. This sets out the Council’s proposals to disburse the funding;
• Confirmation from Slough Borough Council’s s. 151 officer that the proposed spend by Slough Borough Council is value for money; and
• A Memorandum of Understanding between Slough Borough Council and Department for Transport signed by Slough Borough Council’s s.151 officer.

b) authorise Officers to deliver the schemes set out in the delivery plan.

Background:

In 2021 government published “Bus Back Better”. This set out its ambitions to radically improve bus services across England through a combination of more bus services, frequency enhancements, bus priority, lower fares, ways to make it easier for passengers to pay for their journeys, better information and improved passenger infrastructure. It required local transport authorities to develop Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP) and to enter into “Enhanced Partnership” agreements with bus operators.

Slough Borough Council submitted its BSIP in 2021 (refreshed in 2024) and created an Enhanced Partnership. Despite this, Slough (along with many other authorities) was not awarded BSIP funding by Government in 2021.

However, two subsequent awards of revenue funding were made in 2023/24 and in 2024/25. This was in addition to an annual grant of Bus Service Operators’ Grant (BSOG) devolved to local transport authorities. In November 2024 Government awarded all local authorities both revenue and capital BSIP funding for 2025/6. In conjunction with the devolved BSOG, this is now known as bus grant funding.

This bus grant funding is required to be spent on bus improvements during 2025/26. This funding may be carried over into 2026/27 provided the authority can demonstrate that it has suitable contractual commitments in place.

Together with funding carried over from 2023/24 and 2024/25, Slough Borough Council has available:
• £917,500 capital;
• £1,241,972 revenue;
• £63,000 capability funding.

The following schemes or measures are proposed:

• Additional evening and Sunday services
Additional and continued grant funding of services from a number of areas in Slough; joint with Buckinghamshire Council, Heathrow Airport Ltd and Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

• Access to Wexham Park Hospital
Additional evening and Sunday services; new route expanding direct bus access to the hospital; joint with Buckinghamshire Council and Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead.

• Capacity enhancements
Address reported issues of overcrowding on one service; joint with Buckinghamshire Council.

• Multi-operator ticketing scheme
A multi-operator scheme providing for cross-acceptance of tickets and interchange journeys. Particular benefit to access to Wexham Park Hospital

• Overhaul bus stop furniture
Update passenger information; repair and clean where necessary - all bus stops.

• Town centre bus interchange wayfinding
Develop a wayfinding scheme between Slough rail station and Slough town centre interchange bus stops.

• Bus stop development
Accessibility upgrades to two identified bus stops where current provision is poor, with further stops to be identified.

• Marginal gains
Identify and deliver small-scale highway schemes to improve bus journey times and punctuality with a focus on cross-town service seven (Heathrow Airport - Britwell).

• Slough town centre bus interchange bus stops
Improvements to pedestrian access to bus stops; increase in bus stop and stand capacity; Real Time Passenger Information.

• Traffic signal priority
Repair existing detection systems at selected junctions heavily used by buses; develop system for providing signal priority at selected junctions.

Consultation
Officers have developed proposals to apply the available funding that are consistent with its Bus Service Improvement Plan (refreshed in 2024). Further, officers consulted members of the Executive Board of its Enhanced Partnership informally on 13 January 2025 and formally on 21 February 2025.

Supporting National and Local Policies
“Bus Back Better” (March 2021)
This set out proposals by government to radically improve bus services and to reverse historic declines in patronage. It seeks to deliver this through the provision of improved bus services, supported by bus priority measures, improved passenger information, lower fares, and making it easier for passengers to pay fares.

Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan
The council has committed to challenging targets, with a net zero carbon target by 2040 for the borough, and a stretch target of 2030 for the Council’s operations. Increased public transport provision will make a significant contribution to reducing carbon emissions through encouraging a shift away from private car use, with benefits from reduced congestion.

The Low Emission Strategy
Improved public transport will play a crucial role in enhancing air quality, whilst better modal interchanges will encourage more people to use buses, leading to a significant reduction in emissions.

Bus Service Improvement Plan
Slough’s BSIP was prepared in 2021 and refreshed in 2024. It sets out the Council’s targets of bus patronage, customer satisfaction, bus journey times and reliability and it describes a number of measures that the Council wishes to undertake to improve the bus service proposition in Slough, subject to funding being available.

Legal Implications
• For highway measures, The Traffic Management Act 2004 (Section 16(1)) imposes a Network Management Duty to ensure that Slough Borough Council secures the expeditious movement of traffic on the authority’s road network and facilitates the expeditious movement of traffic on road networks for which another authority is the traffic authority.
• All proposals that require permanent and temporary traffic orders are subject to proceduresunder the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (RTRA 1984) and the Local Authorities Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996. It should be noted that under theRTRA 1984 s.122 the Council has a duty to secure the expeditious, convenient and safe movement of vehicular and other traffic (including pedestrians), which involves a balancing exercise in accordance with that Act.
• The introduction of signage and road markings will be undertaken using the Council’sstatutory powers as the Highway Authority and The Traffic Signs Regulations and GeneralDirections 2016.
• For bus service procurement, Slough Borough Council will comply with the relevant legislation under “The Public Service Obligations in Transport Regulations” (SI 2023 No. 1369).
• For measures which may intervene in the market – notably any measure to set a fare under any multi-operator ticketing scheme, it will be noted that any measure brought forward by the Enhanced Partnership is subject to a Competition Test under Part 1 of Schedule 10 of the Transport Act 2000.
• At the time of making its Enhanced Partnership, Slough Borough Council undertook a Competition Test and concluded: “…the benefits of delivering those Requirements, Facilities and Measures contained in the Enhanced Partnership which may be to the detriment of competition, are likely to outweigh any detriment to competition and the effect on competition is proportionate to achieving the wider policy aims in Slough.” The proposals are consistent with the Requirements, Facilities and Measures set out in the Enhanced Partnership.

Financial Implications:
The Council has available £917,500 capital, awarded for 2025/26 and required to be spent by the end of 2026/27;

£1,241,972 revenue comprising:

- £343,267 BSIP 2023/24; £343,267 BSIP 2024/25; £43,138 BSOG 2024/25 (these are required to be spent by the end of 2025/26);
- £512,300 BSIP 2025/26; £43,138 BSOG 2025/26 (these are required to be spent by the end of 2026/27); and
- £63,000 capability funding awarded in 2025/26 (required to be spent by the end of 2026/27).

That the:

- Delivery plan and Memorandum of Understanding be approved.

- S151 Officer be requested to approve the proposed spend and sign the Memorandum of Understanding for submission to the Department for Transport by 31 March 2025; and

- Officers be instructed to deliver the proposed schemes set out in the delivery plan.

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